1.You may identify the stasis in the play but it isn’t necessarily at the beginning of the play. Where is it and who does it involve? NOTE: Do not assume that the stasis of the play is the same as the stasis of the video version that you are required to see. Only discuss the play in this and answers to the following questions. We are in the middle of explosive riots that happen between the Jewish and Black community in 1991 in the town of Crown Heights where we are introduced to characters that are from both the Jewish and Black community. Perspectives from each monologue are the scenes that take place as the play unfolds. The two communities are brought together by the incident involving the murder of Gavin Cato as he was killed unjustly by a drunk Jewish driver.
2. Ball points out that the intrusion sometimes occurs late in the dramatic action. What is the intrusion that breaks the stasis in Fires in the MIrror and how is it broken? The event when Gavin Cato was killed by a hit and run in Crown Heights. This is the event that is sparking racism to the point of range. Before, the two communities have lived in relative peace. This is the source of rage that characters that Smith portrays are the point when the plots start to enfold between the live of the communities in Crown Heights. 3. Why do the events of the play take place at this particular time and place? In other words, what is the unique factor that is out of the ordinary that causes a turn of events to take place? Hint: the unique factor may have something to do with you? How does the title figure in your answer? The events take place in a time when racial tension between two unlikely communities are high and subtle. And the issues relating to an issue in the 1990s still resonate in this day. 4. State the dramatic questions that must be answered by the end of the play? (Ordinarily, the dramatic question shares a close connection with the intrusion.) Will justice be served for Gavin Cato? Will the two communities abridge their differences and learn to live in harmony with amongst another?
5. Use the narrator of the work to answer the questions concerning character. Ball says, a character is revealed by what he/she does, ie. The dramatic actions that are taken. Examine what these particular characters wants. The wants of a character often encounter obstacles that get in the way of achieving those wants. Ball says there are 4 kinds of obstacles that frustrate the wants of a character. They are: a. Me against myself, b. Me against another individual, c. Me against society (that is law, social norms, etc.) and, d. Me against fate, the universe, natural forces, God or the gods. In answering these questions be sure to point to the particular obstacles that demonstrate these obstacles facing the narrator. I will be referring to Anna Deavere Smith and her point of view. She wants to find the root problem of the racial tension in the advent of the death of Gavin Cato. She is not looking for an exact answer, but what’s to hear the voices of the community. Her obstacle that is standing in her way is her tackling this task as an outsider. She is not native to the town, so the stories that she accumulates will be simply one side to a perspective.
6. The most important information in most plays takes place during theatrical moments. Identify the most theatrical moments in Fires in the Mirror. The most theatrical moments for me where the most shocking character. The one who provoked me the most when a Jew confessed to Smith that claimed, “Hitler didn’t finish the job.” To me this shocked me that a Jewish man can be that blunt bout his feelings about other human beings. To me what doesn’t make sense when a man from other community has the capability to profess that much hate over the color of their skin. To me, I do not see that from being different than a Nazi.
We are in the middle of explosive riots that happen between the Jewish and Black community in 1991 in the town of Crown Heights where we are introduced to characters that are from both the Jewish and Black community. Perspectives from each monologue are the scenes that take place as the play unfolds. The two communities are brought together by the incident involving the murder of Gavin Cato as he was killed unjustly by a drunk Jewish driver.
2. Ball points out that the intrusion sometimes occurs late in the dramatic action. What is the intrusion that breaks the stasis in Fires in the MIrror and how is it broken?
The event when Gavin Cato was killed by a hit and run in Crown Heights. This is the event that is sparking racism to the point of range. Before, the two communities have lived in relative peace. This is the source of rage that characters that Smith portrays are the point when the plots start to enfold between the live of the communities in Crown Heights.
3. Why do the events of the play take place at this particular time and place? In other words, what is the unique factor that is out of the ordinary that causes a turn of events to take place? Hint: the unique factor may have something to do with you? How does the title figure in your answer?
The events take place in a time when racial tension between two unlikely communities are high and subtle. And the issues relating to an issue in the 1990s still resonate in this day.
4. State the dramatic questions that must be answered by the end of the play? (Ordinarily, the dramatic question shares a close connection with the intrusion.)
Will justice be served for Gavin Cato? Will the two communities abridge their differences and learn to live in harmony with amongst another?
5. Use the narrator of the work to answer the questions concerning character. Ball says, a character is revealed by what he/she does, ie. The dramatic actions that are taken. Examine what these particular characters wants. The wants of a character often encounter obstacles that get in the way of achieving those wants. Ball says there are 4 kinds of obstacles that frustrate the wants of a character. They are: a. Me against myself, b. Me against another individual, c. Me against society (that is law, social norms, etc.) and, d. Me against fate, the universe, natural forces, God or the gods. In answering these questions be sure to point to the particular obstacles that demonstrate these obstacles facing the narrator.
I will be referring to Anna Deavere Smith and her point of view. She wants to find the root problem of the racial tension in the advent of the death of Gavin Cato. She is not looking for an exact answer, but what’s to hear the voices of the community. Her obstacle that is standing in her way is her tackling this task as an outsider. She is not native to the town, so the stories that she accumulates will be simply one side to a perspective.
6. The most important information in most plays takes place during theatrical moments. Identify the most theatrical moments in Fires in the Mirror.
The most theatrical moments for me where the most shocking character. The one who provoked me the most when a Jew confessed to Smith that claimed, “Hitler didn’t finish the job.” To me this shocked me that a Jewish man can be that blunt bout his feelings about other human beings. To me what doesn’t make sense when a man from other community has the capability to profess that much hate over the color of their skin. To me, I do not see that from being different than a Nazi.